It is known to design an electromechanical switchgear with a switching device, such as a relay, to be as small as possible in order to accommodate for restricted installation spaces encountered in the normal use of the switchgear. A typical switchgear, which is equipped with a switching device in the form of a relay, comprises a contact element acted upon by a switching mechanism. The switching mechanism is configured to bring the contact element into and out of contact with a mating-contact element. The relay comprises a magnet frame consisting of a coil former and a coaxial coil with a yoke. The magnet frame forms a pole face with which an armature interacts. The armature is connected to the contact element, for example, by a coupling device, so that the armature acts upon the contact element.
Additionally, applications for switchgears are known in which, apart from a switching device of this kind, an electrical display circuit or electrical protective circuit, for example, with electronic components, is provided. The electrical display circuit for the switchgear serves, for example, to indicate to a user the proper operation of the switchgear, for example, whether the switchgear is properly connected and being supplied with a voltage. Electronic components provided for this purpose include, for example, a light-emitting diode (LED), which illuminates when the switchgear is operating correctly. The electrical protective circuit for the switchgear serves, for example, to filter out any voltage peaks in a supply voltage in the case of a switchgear for alternating voltage. An example of an electrical protective circuit used for this purpose is an RC element, which can smooth high-frequency voltage peaks in the supply voltage.
When supplementary electrical circuits of this kind are provided in the switchgear, it is necessary to supply the supplementary electrical circuit with the operating voltage of the switchgear. The operating voltage is fed, for example, via an insulated wire, which has, for example, to be routed past the magnet frame of the relay. This is disadvantageous in that additional space is required at the locations at where the wire has to be routed past the magnet frame of the switching device, which increases the external dimensions of the switching device. Because an increase in the external dimensions of the switching device would in some instances prevent installation of the relay, for example, in a switch cabinet, it is impossible in such cases to provide an electrical display circuit or electrical protective circuit in the switchgear.